And that now every day when he doesn’t find himself lacing up work boots at 5am to be a carpenter knowing that he won’t be home again until about 9pm after VFL training.

One thing about the second tier, it has its way of sorting those who really want to succeed from those who only kind of want to.

It is not impossible to be drafted as a mature-age player but the older you get the more you have to do.

Bewley made the VFL Team of the Year as a 22-year-old in 2017 and was on the recruiting radar of several clubs but when he wasn’t picked up, many of the interested clubs dropped off.

What changed? It is hard to find a story about Bewley’s 2018 season that doesn’t include the words “took his game to another level”.

He had the fourth most disposals in the VFL, improved his marking, became one of the VFL’s deadliest players heading inside attacking 50m and finished second in his club’s best-and-fairest. Fremantle stayed interested.

“I finished the 2017 season and I thought it might have happened then,” Bewley said from the Dockers’ community camp in Geraldton this week.

“When it didn’t I went back to Williamstown with no real expectations. I wanted to play in a successful team and have a bit of fun. My game grew over the year. We were able to have a good season and I was lucky to get picked. It was a case of play some good footy and see what happens.”

Bewley says he prides himself on hard work. The rest just “is what it is”.

Bewley had captained TAC Cup team the Western Jets in 2013 but now views the delayed entry to the AFL as a “blessing”.

“I am a qualified carpenter. I am at a better space in my life for this to happen,” he said.

“I would say I have matured over those years. I have worked out what sort of person I am and what sort of player I want to become. I have been able to mould that into my game.

“Once you get over the fact that you are not as good as you think you are it helps a lot.”

Bewley said he doesn’t look past the next training session. If he strings as many good ones together as he can before the start of the season then hopefully a chance comes at some point.

Brett Bewley in action at Fremantle training.Source:Getty Images

He will get an idea of where he sits in the pecking order next month when the Dockers pick a team for their JLT Series clash with Collingwood.

Expect him to be in contention if not in the team. Don’t expect him to be thinking too much about it now.

“I don’t look too far ahead. I just take each training session as it comes and I try to get the best out of myself and that will give myself the best opportunity to be there when the whips are cracking,” he said.

“I am not trying to change too much. Being that little bit older I am lucky in that I know my body and I try to stick to what I know.”

What he has already noticed abut Fremantle – and this is good news – is how “tight” the group is.

“I don’t have any previous years to compare it to but coming in I was sort of taken aback by how close the boys are,” he said.

“Everyone is about that same age and it is a tight knit group. That is always the first step to success – that the group gels together.”

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